Betty Crocker'S Split Pea Soup (Revised) - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 lb dried split peas (about 2 1/4 cups)
8 cups water
1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 cup celery, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon pepper (or more)
1 ham bone (or 2 lbs. ham shanks, or smoked pork hocks)
3 medium carrots, cut into 1/4 inch slices
sea salt, course

Preparation

Rinse and sort peas. Heat peas and water to boiling in Dutch oven. Boil uncovered 2 minutes. Simmer on low 1 hour.
Stir onion, celery and pepper. Add ham shanks. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 2 hours or until peas are a little mushy.
Remove ham bone; remove ham from bone. Trim excess fat from ham; cut ham into 1/2 inch pieces. (If you would like to skim the fat, do so now).
Stir ham and carrots into soup. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender and soup is of desired consistency, about 30 minutes. Add salt and extra pepper (if needed) to taste.